The Social Security Benefits (Student Loans and Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 1990

Amendment of the Housing Benefit Regulations

4.—(1) The Housing Benefit Regulations shall be amended in accordance with the following provisions of this Regulation.

(2) In regulation 5(3) and (5)(b) (circumstances in which a person is or is not to be treated as occupying a dwelling as his home) after the word “student” in each of those provisions there shall be inserted the words “, other than one to whom regulation 48A(1) applies (circumstances in which certain students are treated as not liable to make payments in respect of a dwelling),”.

(3) In regulation 6(1) (circumstances in which a person is to be treated as liable to make payments in respect of a dwelling) after sub-paragraph (d) there shall be added the following sub-paragraph—

“(e) a person who is a partner of a student to whom regulation 48A(1) (circumstances in which certain students are treated as not liable to make payments in respect of a dwelling) applies.”.

(4) In regulation 33 (calculation of income other than earnings)—

(a) in paragraph (1) for the reference “(2) and (3)” there shall be substituted the reference “(2) to (3A)”;

(b) after paragraph (3) there shall be inserted the following paragraph—

“(3A) Where a loan is made to a person pursuant to arrangements made under section 1 of the Education (Student Loans) Act 1990 and that person ceases to be a student before the end of the academic year in respect of which the loan is payable or, as the case may be, before the end of his course, a sum equal to the weekly amount apportionable under paragraph (2) of regulation 57A shall be taken into account under paragraph (1) for each week, in the period over which the loan fell to be apportioned, following the date on which that person ceases to be a student; but in determining the weekly amount apportionable under paragraph (2) of regulation 57A so much of that paragraph as provides for a disregard shall not have effect.”.

(5) In regulation 46 (interpretation)—

(a) in the definition of “grant” at the end there shall be added the words “but does not include a payment derived from funds made available by the Secretary of State for the purpose of assisting students in financial difficulties under section 100 of the Education Act 1944, sections 131 and 132 of the Education Reform Act 1988 or section 73 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980”;

(b) at the end there shall be added the following definition—

• “year” in relation to a course means the period of 12 months beginning on 1st January, 1st April or 1st September according to whether the academic year of the course in question begins in the spring, the summer or the autumn respectively.

(6) After regulation 48 (occupying a dwelling as a person’s home) there shall be inserted the following regulation—

“Full-time students to be treated as not liable to make payments in respect of a dwelling

48A.— (1) A full-time student shall be treated as if he were not liable to make payments in respect of a dwelling.

(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to a full-time student—

(a) who is a person on income support;

(b) whose applicable amount would, but for paragraph (1), include the lone parent premium, pensioner premium for persons under 75 or, as the case may be, persons 75 or over, higher pensioner premium, disability premium or severe disability premium;

(c) who has a partner who is also a full-time student, if he or that partner is treated as responsible for a child or young person;

(d) who is a single claimant with whom a child is boarded out by a local authority or voluntary organisation within the meaning of the Child Care Act 1980(1) or, in Scotland, the Social Work (Scotland) Act 1968(2);

(e) who—

(i) immediately before 1st September 1990 was in receipt of income support by virtue of paragraph 7 of Schedule 1 to the Income Support (General) Regulations 1987 as then in force; or

(ii) on or after that date makes a claim for income support or housing benefit (or both) and at any time during the period of 18 months immediately preceding the date of that claim was in receipt of income support either by virtue of that paragraph or regulation 13(2)(b) of those Regulations,

but this sub-paragraph shall cease to apply where the person has ceased to be in receipt of income support for a continuous period of 18 months or more; or

(f) who is aged under 19 and whose course of study is not a course of higher education.

(3) In paragraph (2)(f) reference to a course of higher education is a reference to a course of any description mentioned in Schedule 6 to the Education Reform Act 1988(3).”.

(7) In regulation 51(1) (eligible rent) for the figures “£2065” and “£1480” there shall be substituted the figures “£2245” and “£1555” respectively.

(8) In regulation 53(2)(g) (calculation of grant income) for the figure “£234” there shall be substituted the figure “£246”.

(9) After regulation 57 (other amounts to be disregarded) there shall be inserted the following regulation—

“Treatment of student loans

57A.— (1) A loan which is made to a student pursuant to arrangements made under section 1 of the Education (Student Loans) Act 1990 shall be treated as income.

(2) In calculating the weekly amount of the loan to be taken into account as income—

(a) except where sub-paragraph (b) applies, the loan shall be apportioned equally between the weeks in the academic year in respect of which the loan is payable;

(b) in the case of a loan which is payable in respect of the final academic year of the course or if the course is only of one academic year’s duration, in respect of that year, the loan shall be apportioned equally between the weeks in the period beginning with the start of the final academic year or, as the case may be, the single academic year and ending with the date on which the course ends,

and from the weekly amount so apportioned there shall be disregarded £10.

(3) Any loan for which a student is eligible in respect of an academic year under the arrangements mentioned in paragraph (1) but which has not been acquired by him shall be treated as possessed by him and paragraphs (1) and (2) shall apply accordingly; and for the purposes of this paragraph the loan for which a student is eligible is the maximum amount payable to him under those arrangements.”.

(10) In regulation 79 (review of determination) after paragraph (5) there shall be inserted the following paragraph—

“(5A) Notwithstanding paragraph (1)(a), a determination or a decision shall not be reviewed where the change of circumstances is the repayment of a loan to which regulation 57A (treatment of student loans) applies.”.

(11) In paragraph 21 of Schedule 5 (capital to be disregarded) for the words “(capital treated as income)” there shall be substituted the words “or 57A (capital treated as income or treatment of student loans)”.

(1)

1980 c. 5.

(2)

1968 c. 49.

(3)

1988 c. 40.